This past July, As Cleveland photographers, we had the pleasure of participating in a historic Cleveland event. For the first time in 80 years, Cleveland hosted the 2016 Republican National Convention, marking the city’s third time hosting. Cleveland won the bid to host two years ago, beating out Dallas, Las Vegas, Cincinnati, Denver, and Kansas City. The event took place July 18-21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. It was an iconic moment for Cleveland. The event brought over $200 million into the local economy and provided positive publicity for the city. More than 50,000 tourists travelled to the city to participate in the convention. Among this group of people were the delegates, Republican National Committee staff, journalists and event photographers, donors, and support staff such as security, transportation, and lobbyists.

Aside from making an impact on those individuals fortunate enough to experience Cleveland, the Republican National Convention reached millions of users on Facebook and YouTube. Cleveland photographers were able to capture images of the event across the backdrop of the city that will be shared with millions of users online, further influencing potential tourists to make Cleveland a destination to visit. Tourists were impressed by the beautiful Northern Ohio scenery, most notably Lake Erie, and inviting people of Cleveland. The convention helped launch interest in tourism to the city, which the Cleveland economy can enjoy for years to come. 2,472 delegates from each of the states and US territories gathered in Cleveland to nominate the Republic party’s nominee, with a simple majority vote of 1,237 required to win the nomination. The convention resulted in the nomination of Presidential candidate Donald Trump of New York and Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence of Indiana.

As Cleveland event photographers we had the pleasure of documenting the event for media outlets WETA, RealClear Media Group, NewsHour Productions, PBS News Hour, XQ, Innovation Nation, and Taste of Excellence. It was a great experience to be a part of history in the making.

We love being event photographers in the Cleveland area or.....wherever. We love to travel!!